The Book
by Code Breaker
Summary: A Vanilla Sky fan fic based on Cameron Crowe's secret interpretation from the DVD commentary. Sophia meets Brian at a cafe, where he reveals to her his new, complete novel.


WARNING: Characters and whatnot from "Vanilla Sky" are copyrighted to Paramount Pictures. They had no part in the making of this fan fic.  
  
NOTE: I would like to thank the cast and crew of "Vanilla Sky" for bringing all of the viewers an interesting tale of dreams and reality for the viewer's pleasure. I'd like to double that thanks to Cameron Crowe for not only giving us a very interesting film, but for giving his thoughts about the film on the commentary track of the DVD. For if it wasn't for his personal "secret" interpretation of the film, this fan fic may never exist. And for those who are familiar with "Almost Famous", YES, the idea for having the novel called UNTITLED is a reference to "Almost Famous".  
  
SPOILER WARNING: If you have not seen "Vanilla Sky" or it's previous incarnation "Abre Los Ojos" ("Open Your Eyes"), please do not read.  
  
"The Book" By Code Breaker  
  
It had been at least a month since he was gone. Even then, she couldn't help but think about him and that one night where it may have been possible for true love to be real. Nearly ever moment of the day, he was in a corner of her mind; be it at work, or dancing, or painting. She forgave him, even with what happened at the club a while after his accident. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, so many times she tried to force herself to pick up the phone and call him, something always holding her back. She wanted to tell him that she didn't mind his disfigurement, but he didn't need to change his personality to fit the face. When she finally had enough nerve to call him, he wasn't at his apartment. As it turned out, he was in a hotel room in the midst of killing himself. So much she wanted to say to him, yet there was no chance to say it.  
  
She sat in a cafe that her and Brian had once stopped by while David was in his coma. She was waiting for Brian to arrive. He had called her and asked her to meet her there. From the sound of his voice, he sounded very exciting. She remembered a while back when Brian asked her if he could use her as a character for a new book he was writing. She remembered that he had finished the one he was working on the very day she found out that David committed suicide, when Brian had called her to let her know about the memorial at his apartment. Again, she couldn't help but think about David Aames, no matter what topic it is. Something, like the way she noticed his "friends" at the party, was connected to him in some way.  
  
"Hey Sophia," a voice said, one that was familiar.  
  
She looked up to find Brian Shelby standing next to the table. He carried something under his arm, a large stack of paper in a file folder and held together with a couple of rubber bands.  
  
"Brian!" she say with a small smile to her face, "Please, sit. I've waited on you for the last ten minutes."  
  
"Sorry if I'm late." he said taking the seat across from her, "Traffic is deadly, even during 'brunch' time."  
  
He sat the stack onto the table, just as a waitress came up to take their order. They both decided to get coffee. Sophia's mind was no longer on David, but on the stack of paper sitting next to Brian's right elbow. They began to talk, but there her mind focused. She would often catch a brief look at the stack whenever Brian wasn't looking at her or in her direction. They got half way through a whole conversation before she finally got enough courage.  
  
"Brian, what is that?" she asked, motioning towards the stack.  
  
"Oh! I can't believe I forgot." Brian responded with a chuckle as he picked up the stack, "This, Sophia, is my latest novel."  
  
He slowly placed the stack in front of her (or to her it seemed as if it were in slow motion).  
  
"I finished it last night." he continued on, "I haven't thought of a title for it yet, but that's where I figured you could help me out."  
  
Her eyes shot up from the stack in front of her to Brian. She was a bit confused as to why he would pick her for help, but she understood that it may have been because he needed a friend's help instead of asking his publisher.  
  
"What's it about?"  
  
"It's about the sweet and sour of life. It's also about dreams. But most of all, it's about David."  
  
And there David was, back in the front of her thoughts again. This was now another topic that covered him.  
  
"Is this the one you asked me to be a character in?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
No wonder he asked so many questions about the time I was with David, she thought to herself.  
  
She pulled both the rubber bands off, opening the folder. The first words were the title page: "UNTITLED by Brian Shelby". She flipped to the next one, finding this: This book is dedicated to the real David Aames, who wasn't afraid to live the dream, and Sophia Serrano, who was there for me when I needed her." She looked up at Brian, noticing the look in his eyes. It was almost a mixture of him being in love and being heartbroken at the same time. She wouldn't have been surprised if she had the same look in her eyes right now. Sophia placed the title page back on top, and closed the folder.  
  
"You want me to give you a title for your book?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah," he replied with a nod, "I thought about calling it 'Open Your Eyes' or how it's said in Spanish."  
  
"You mean, 'Abre Los Ojos'?"  
  
"Yeah. But I figured I'd let you read the story first and give me a couple of ideas for a title. I'll let you take as long as possible to read it, just as long as it doesn't take six months. My publisher's antsy and wants me to come up with a title so that it can be published and done with. In fact, you'll be the first one to read it."  
  
Sophia thought for a moment about Brian's suggestion. It was interesting that she would be the first to actually read a novel before it was published. Since Brian's first book was popular and he was considered a "bestselling author", it would probably be the only chance that she may ever had. Plus, she wanted to know what it was that Brian wrote out for her, and how he pictured David. It was the only chance she'd have until it came out published.  
  
"Okay," Sophia finally replied, nodding, "I'll do it."  
  
Brian just smiled. His grin was so wide enough to probably show his back molars. That smile from him was always comforting to her.  
  
"Thank you, Sophia." He said, raising his glass in cheers, "Here's to a good reading."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- Excerpt from the last chapter of "Untitled", by Brian Shelby.  
  
"It's been a brilliant journey of self-awakening." Ventura's voice broke the silence, "Now you simply have to ask yourself this: What is happiness to you, David?"  
  
David stood there, with thoughts swirling in his mind. The reality he was in was not the one that he believed it was, and now he was being asked which reality he wanted. He wasn't sure about returning to the dream, where he'd continue to live a lie and not ever know about it again. But he would still have Sophia if he stayed. And he was as equally unsure about waking up; where he would have to live in a world that was unlike the one he left behind when he died. At least it would be real. The only downfall would be giving up the dream of love for a chance at real love, but it would be real too. Both thoughts were a happy ending either way he picked. There was no wrong choice and as Ventura stated earlier, "There are no guarantees." He looked up at Ventura, with his choice visible in his eyes.  
  
"I wanna live a real life," David finally replied, "I don't want to dream any longer."  
  
Ventura held a warm smile. He nodded, as if he understood David's rational thinking behind his choice. The thought then popped into David's head that he did understand because he wanted Ventura to understand.  
  
"Any last wishes?" Ventura asked.  
  
David closed his eyes with only one thought on his mind. Within that thought accompanied a thousand images, all of the same person.  
  
"Let them, out there, read my mind," came out from David's mouth in a low voice that was barely loud enough for anyone to hear.  
  
But Ventura heard it, and nodded lightly to David's request.  
  
"I wish you well, David," was the last thing that Ventura said.  
  
David didn't open his eyes, keeping a hold of the thought. He could feel as if someone was behind him, if it not being there on the rooftop than it being in his mind. He turned around slowly, the light from the sun shining in through his eyelids. And slowly, he opened them. There she was again, just like the way she always been. She was alive and as beautiful as he remembered her. Sophia held a warm smile, the same kind that she had when he had given her the sketch. David felt a warm feeling all over his body, as if her presence had raised the temperature on that rooftop and made him chuckle from it's ticklish feeling. He began to walk towards her, feeling a small change within him. He accepted the warmth of her hand as she touched his face, it looking as perfect as it did before the wreck. Their lips made contact, for what was going to be their last time. A part of him was beginning to wish that he had chosen to stay, but the part that made him go with his choice kept this fact in mind: This isn't real. She broke the kiss, keeping the warm smile from before present.  
  
"Look at us," David began, "I'm frozen and you're dead... and I love you."  
  
"It's a problem." she said with a small chuckle.  
  
And there was the thought that popped into his head, the last time he saw her alive in real life. Of her running away from him after the events of the club, and about how everything else happened by climbing into that Skylark. He finally brought himself to say the thing that he wanted to say to her before he died.  
  
"I lost you the moment I got in that car. I'm sorry."  
  
He wanted her to say that he was forgiven, but he knew that she wasn't real and that wouldn't be what the real Sophia would say to him, at least not at that moment.  
  
"But do you remember what you said to me once? That every passing minute is always a chance to turn it all around."  
  
She leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss, one that would be the last he'll have from her.  
  
"I'll find you again," she said, looking softly into his eyes.  
  
He knew he was ready, and he was satisfied by the response. He began to back away from her, thinking about what he said earlier to McCabe: When I'm asleep, I know I'm a fool who's about to wake up. But he knew that this time, he was satisfied. He actually believed her, even if she wasn't real.  
  
"I'll see you in another life," he said with a smile, "When we are both cats."  
  
She gave a small wave, along with a wink to go with it. That last wave got his hopes up high. He turned around and headed for the edge. He lost his balance as he jumped up, but quickly regained it before he could fall down. If he was going to do this, it was going to be by his own will. He looked over his shoulder at her, for it would be the last time. He finally felt the urge and jumped forward.  
  
It was probably the only time he was going to feel the weightlessness and the acceleration of the gravitational pull. This must have been the reason why his dad parachuted, this being the closest to flying he could get. He could feel the vanilla sky behind him, even though he was facing down towards the fast approaching ground below. But then, everything slowed down. In his mind, there were things that went through that he wouldn't have thought about.  
  
Memories of childhood... Family... Friends... Leave it to Beaver... Album covers... Audrey Hepburn... The wreck... The company... His dreams... Thomas Tipp... Movies... Every little thing that was... And most of all, thoughts of Sophia.  
  
All those thoughts, all different, were becoming mixed into one and all at the same time. By the time his thoughts stop, he hit the ground and everything was white.  
  
So this is what it's like to wake up, he thought, the dream world slowly ending and the real world would finally be there. When will it be there?  
  
"Relax, David," he heard a woman's voice, "Open your eyes."  
  
And he did, inhaling deeply for the first time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------  
  
It was about a couple of days later, this time Sophia being the one to ask Brian to meet her. Brian came in, he found Sophia sitting at the same table (or at least he thought it was the same one) from before. He turn the seat across from her, the thought about what she was thinking in his mind.  
  
Did she like it, he asked himself, or did she think it sucked?  
  
"Hey," was the only word that came out of Sophia's mouth.  
  
"Hi," he replied, "You doin' okay?"  
  
She nodded, not saying much. He noticed that Sophia's eyes were slightly puffed up. He couldn't tell if it had been because she couldn't sleep or if she had been crying a lot. Brian couldn't bring himself to ask her questions about the book, fear from whatever hurt he may have caused her from the novel keeping him back. There was a long moment of silence, probably longer than he had pictured for the final scene in the book.  
  
"Do you honestly think," Sophia broke the lingering silence, "that David would choose me for his lucid dream?"  
  
"Yes," Brian answered, "I'm not sure if he picked the Lucid Dream option for real, but I know that L.E. has it. And if he did, I think that he would. You were probably the only one who made him realize that life isn't sweet without the sour. I think the sour of not being able to talk to you after the accident is what drove him over the edge. But I think he loved you enough to have you as his dream."  
  
"Do you actually feel that David stole me from you?"  
  
"At first, I did... But I quit thinking that a long time ago. I appreciate the sweet as much as the sour."  
  
There was another long period of silence in between them. Brian wished he knew what she was thinking or what it was she was feeling.  
  
"The novel was very good," she finally came around to speaking again, "I think you captured everyone accurately. And I love how you portrayed me."  
  
He could only nod, understanding what she was saying.  
  
"'Vanilla Sky'."  
  
Brian was confused at what she said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"'Vanilla Sky'," she repeated, "That is the only title I could think of for your novel. It would fit perfectly with your novel. Since you use the painting in the novel and a representation of it in his mind... It fits."  
  
"'Vanilla Sky'," Brian repeated, "I like it. It seems almost as if it were a folk song title."  
  
"I think it is," Sophia said with a slight chuckle, "By one of the Beatles."  
  
The End............. 


End file.
